Kiss It Better
by blackbirdsheart
Summary: A covert mission is always bound to go wrong, but he never expected this. A hero wasn't supposed to be behind bars.


**This is based on the song "Kiss It All Better" by He is We and was inspired by this picture. messages/#/d57w5oi**

**It's set in the Young Justice universe, I messed with the original storyline for Barbara quite a bit.**

* * *

He lay down on the thin mattress, rusty springs creaking to compliment the sound of the leaking faucet across the room. The building seemed colder tonight, but it was cold all the time. What more could he expect from concrete walls and metal bars separating him from the rest of the world.

From her.

He covered his head with his arms, squeezing slightly to suppress the lump in his throat that meant tonight would again be filled with tears. He could feel the hot liquid bubbling up and shut his sapphire eyes in protest. The resistance didn't work, and soon his body was quivering. He pulled at his ebony hair in frustration; this wasn't supposed to be the way things were. Justice was supposed to result in the hero being glorified, not locked behind bars. He knew he should have listened to Bruce, vengeance taken personally never worked out the way it should. He should have known better after what had happened to Jason. He wondered what it was like for his younger adoptive brother, did he scream in his sleep remembering the night? The moment was burned into Dick's mind all too well; it seemed his subconscious revisited it just to punish him.

* * *

It was supposed to be a covert mission but, of course, they all should have known it wouldn't end that way. Nightwing and Batgirl had not yet revealed to the Team that they had finally sealed the deal and decided to be a couple, Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson on the other hand had made a grave mistake in making their relationship public. The two were in perfect sync tonight, taking down one of the psychotic clown's henchmen after another. It was when they separated that he heard it. A loud crack ripped through the air and was followed by a shrill cry bursting from Barbara's throat. Dick immediately went ridged, turning sharply in the direction of the sound. Pearly white smoke floated upward from the tip of a gun being held by the Joker. The clown was grinning, his body vibrating with a silent laugh.

"Oops, wrong gun." The Joker said, mocking the voice of someone who had sympathy for the girl as he drew another gun and pointed it at Dick.

Another loud crack shot through the air and Dick flinched, hearing the insane cackle of the clown as he did. A white flag with red letters spelling out the word "**BANG!**" was flapping from the tip of the gun. The Joker seemed content, running from the scene and Dick curled his fist. His attention then turned to the love of his life, lying on the ground with a pool of crimson surrounding her body.

He didn't even remember running towards her. He didn't remember practically bruising his knees as he knelt down and took her in his arms. He cradled her head in one hand, hugging her body closer to his with the other. The tears came down his face faster than he could even comprehend.

"I'm sorry, Babs." He choked out, "I should have been there, I should have taken it for you."

She tentatively brought an arm over her body, attempting to caress his, causing her to flinch in pain, "Its okay, Dick. It wasn't you're fault." She winced in pain again, "You couldn't have known."

"But-but I-" he began, gazing down at her face. She looked defeated and scared, Barbara Gordon was never supposed to be either of those things.

"Dick?" he focused his attention on her completely, "Please, kiss it all better. I'm not ready to leave you yet. I don't think I could without showing you how much I love you."

He kissed her lips softly with passion and continued, raining kissed to every area of her he could reach. "Its going to be okay Babs, try to stay with me here. I love you too much to lose you." It was then that he saw it. Glint of silver with the flag resting inside of the gun. There was no way he would lose her and not avenge her death.

* * *

He'd cut all contact from his family, he didn't want to know if she made it. They'd said their goodbyes, and he'd be damned if he didn't rid the world of the scum that took her from him. He was going to do it today. He fingered the cold metal in his jacket; the adrenaline was pumping in his veins so hard it seemed to burn them. The green hair wasn't hard to miss, along with the purple suit; it was him. Dick was quick to close in on the clown, shoving the tip of the gun into his back.

A familiar laugh escaped the Joker's lips, "Come, now, Robbie, I thought you'd be man enough to face me when you ended our game."

"You don't deserve to see my face, not even before you lose your life."

The psychotic man laughed manically, enjoying what he had done to the young man's mind. Dick knew he had won; he had corrupted the Boy Wonder. "Ha." He cocked the gun with a click. "Ha." He pressed the gun further into the clown's back. "Ha." The shot echoed in the street.

He doesn't recall much from when they made the arrest, only that he laughed. He laughed for the first time in weeks. But the pain never went away; he knew he'd never get her back.

* * *

He shot up from his bed when he heard the soft click of a security guard's boots. The man looked at him with a sad expression through the bars, one of pity. Dick was tired of seeing that look, though he felt better knowing they understood why he did it he hated the idea of someone feeling sorry for him.

"Mr. Grayson, you have a visitor."

A visitor? No one cared about his existence after the trial. He was looked down upon even more than Batman's first failure, Jason. That's all he was now, a failure.

"Dick?" a female voice called.

His head shot up, no, it couldn't be. Barbara wheeled herself into view. She still looked the same, only a little more broken. Dick felt a pang in his chest, he had done this to her.

"Babs?" he croaked, "I thought-"

"It only paralyzed me from the waist down. I've been trying to work up the courage to see you, I'm sorry I couldn't until now."

He reached through the bars and touched her hand, "Its okay, I'm just happy to see that you're alive."

She smiled weakly, "I never stopped loving you, you know."

He squeezed her hand, "And I didn't stop loving you, I never went a day without thinking about you. Babs?"

"Yes?"

"Could we talk? Could you stay with me, until I fall asleep?"

"Of course, every day, until I kiss it all better."

**PLEASE R&R! Thanks!**


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